


The One that Got Away

by theZanyArthropleura



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, surprise visit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 23:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18158642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theZanyArthropleura/pseuds/theZanyArthropleura
Summary: In which Sombra has an actual friend and no clue what to do about it





	The One that Got Away

Tracking him down had always been a sort of challenge between the two of them.

Or, at least she kept him thinking that, so he’d learn to cover his tracks better. He was already outsmarting Talon nine times out of ten, and the tenth try never made it past the front door.

But it wasn’t _Talon_ Sombra was worried about.

The hacker stealthily closed the window behind her, prowling across the darkened, shabby but homely living room and lingering at the corner of the long hallway that stretched away from it. She deactivated her cloaking, took several deep breaths, and put on the most upbeat smile she could manage as she rounded the bend and stepped out under the fluorescent lighting.

And _of course_ he’d just stepped out of the shower.

“Geez, _Dios Mío_ could you put a shirt on once in a while?” Sombra scowled at the well-chiseled abs of the man that stood in front of her with a cyan towel over his shoulder and – thankfully – a pair of matching cargo shorts. Baptiste raised a confused eyebrow for just a moment before his whole face seemed to light up at the sight of the hacker.

“Sombra? Well, isn’t _this_ a surprise! How long has it been?”

They both knew it was a rhetorical question. It had been… months, at least. Baptiste knew she had her reasons for staying away, even if she never talked about them. And he would also know just what it must mean for her to be here now.

With a bright smile, Baptiste started to close the distance, opening his arms to sweep her up into one of his incredibly strong hugs.

“Whoa, whoa! Easy there, _amigo_.” Sombra put up her hands, then angled her right wrist to point at his chest only a few feet away. “ _Shirt_ , then hug.”

Baptiste only looked slightly disappointed. “Alright, but… don’t you go anywhere.”

He’d said it with a wink and a smile, but Sombra knew some part of him might actually be worried.

She watched the medic retreat back past the door he’d seemingly stepped out of, and toward the room off the end of the hall. She sighed, and walked back out into the living room, taking a seat on the couch and waiting with oddly shaking nerves. She could keep up the confidence if she wanted, but this was still new territory for her.

Sombra’s smirk returned just as Baptiste did, the medic now wearing a thin, white tank-top that was probably the best she was going to get out of him. “This better?” He asked, holding his arms out to the sides and giving a slight wink as he flexed his biceps.

Sombra rolled her eyes dramatically as Baptiste took the seat to her left. By now, she was fully aware that the occasional flirting was just how he talked to everyone – yes, _everyone_ – and part of a carefully-constructed, friendly demeanor that helped him stay positive and move on from his sordid past. It didn’t faze her much, really. After all, she could sometimes be just as guilty.

With a warm, patient smile, Baptiste waited in silence while Sombra lightly shook her head, the hacker’s expression slowly falling.

She tried to keep him out of it as much as she could. She’d been checking up on him pretty regularly ever since he’d left Talon, but it had mostly been from a distance, and without him specifically knowing when she was watching. Only when it got the worst, when she was at the very edge of breaking, and her life of always running, hiding, and being alone for all of it finally caught up with her, would she risk seeking him out in person.

With a sigh that stuttered into a sob, Sombra leaned toward Baptiste, waiting arms catching her in a gentle embrace as she let her tears fall into his shoulder. She could tell she was shaking.

He wouldn’t ask what was wrong, that was their agreement. He wouldn’t ask why she still stayed with Talon, despite how confused he always seemed, given how often the hacker would help him out with whatever humanitarian cause he happened to be championing at the time. The most he would ever ask was for her to stay longer, or to visit more often.

She would still always be gone by morning.

She felt guilty for even _being_ here. She never _wanted_ to put him in danger, and that was what being close to her did to people. She knew she wouldn’t put herself in harm’s way for his sake, if it came to that, but if she had it her way, she’d do everything in her power to make sure she’d never have to make that choice.

Tomorrow, she’d curse herself for not being strong enough to push through on her own. For _giving in_ to that annoying basic need for human comfort. No matter how it might get to that point, she’d never be able to forgive herself if anything happened to him.

And even beyond that… he’d _left_ Talon, rejected everything about that part of his life. He’d put it all behind him, and what business did Sombra have, still sticking around as a reminder of the worst mistake he’d ever made? She’d wondered, many times, why, despite everything, he still seemed to want her in his life. She never asked, though.

If she heard the answer, it would be real.

No one trusted each other in Talon. They all knew the people they worked with had secrets, and despite how much Sombra had hoped otherwise, they would never really be close enough to get to the point of sharing them. Sombra had thrived on that distance, the expectation that whatever she could do for them, if anything… she could do it from the comfort of secrecy.

But now that whatever they’d had before, they’d kept it going outside of Talon…

 _Actually_ being close to someone, actually _caring_ what they thought of her, or _would_ think of her? That was dangerous ground. Sombra had decided a long, _long_ time ago, that she would never let herself be afraid of anyone, nor would she ever feel like she needed to tell anyone the whole truth, but… the idea that she was building something that might not last, might only have worked in the first place because she hadn’t been honest…

Sombra hadn’t been prepared for that feeling, and she didn’t like it one bit.

She finally withdrew, sitting back up and letting her breathing even out the rest of the way.

“…You good?” Baptiste inquired, in a calm and concerned, friendly demeanor light enough to gave Sombra the option to pretend nothing had been wrong in the first place.

“…Yeah, for now,” Sombra muttered with a sigh.

Baptiste raised an eyebrow. “Now, whatever you’re doing these days, don’t try to run on just _that_ for the next six months, you hear?”

“You can hold off that prescription, _amigo_ ,” Sombra snarked as her grin returned, and grew more mischievous. “I can get plenty of the cheap stuff over the counter… or under the table… or _on_ the table, usually…”

Baptiste let out a small chuckle as the hacker counted off on her fingernails. “ _Not_ something to remember for next time, I take it?”

“Well, you know me,” Sombra remarked with a grin as she crossed her arms behind her head and stretched into a relaxed position against the back of the couch – their silently agreed-upon cue that they could move on with the night. She stared up at the slightly-cracked ceiling as Baptiste stood and made for the kitchen.

Sombra promised herself there wouldn’t _be_ a next time. At least, not until after it was all over… if that could even _happen_ , and if she’d even be around to see it.

It was the same promise she’d made all of the other times, too.

Sombra looked up as she heard footsteps, and took the offered glass of mezcal – she _also_ didn’t want to ask why Baptiste always seemed to keep some around just for her. The medic sat down again, at a more casual distance, and turned on a football match that just happened to playing. The two clinked glasses in a silent toast as they settled in.

They both knew what it was for. That they’d got _out_ of that life, at least as far as Sombra could have been considered to. That they’d picked up the pieces and made something better out of it, and that at the end of it all, they had each other.

As she took the first sip, Sombra closed her eyes and imagined a day when they’d make that toast again, and it wouldn’t just be the two of them. When she’d get to clink that glass against… probably a whole bottle of the strong stuff, some kind of stein bigger than her head, an… _Erlenmeyer flask_ or something, a flute of red wine…

Tomorrow, she’d wish today had never happened. Tomorrow, she’d probably push herself even harder to let go. Tomorrow, she’d follow the next lead, then the next one, until she wore herself down and ended up crying in the middle of an alley somewhere. Tomorrow, she’d be right back here to start it all over again.

But tonight, with the warmth of closeness, the smile that was always there to greet her, and the silent understanding between two people who’d lost so much and had just as much to gain…

She had to admit to herself that she needed this.


End file.
